The time it takes to close a mortgage loan varies with the type of mortgage, buyer/homeowner situations, and lender processing efficiency. A good rule of thumb, however, is to assume that a typical mortgage loan will take around four to six weeks to close from application date. The most common key ingredient in this recipe is for you to have a completed application as soon as possible. Understand that certain loans may require a slightly longer period to reach closing.

Completed Application

The key to estimating a closing date is the day your application is complete. Simply submitting a mortgage application (Form 1003) is insufficient. When you submit an application, be sure it is accompanied with income verification -- at least two recent pay stubs and the past two years' W-2s or 1099s -- along with any other documentation your lender requests. Often, they'll want bank statements -- up to six months -- from your primary financial institutions, proof of down payment cash, purchase agreement, and a letter of explanation (LOE) for any negative entries on your credit report.

Conventional Mortgage

Any loan not given by or insured by the U.S. government is a conventional mortgage. These mortgages typically take from three to four weeks for an easy refinance loan to six weeks for a "purchase without problems" loan. Your mortgage lender need only to order and analyze your credit report, receive a completed appraisal (without valuation problems) and verify your down payment funds to issue a firm approval. This may only take one to two weeks. After you accept the loan, the lender sends your file to a closing agent, which may be an attorney, escrow or title company, to search the title and prepare closing documents, which include notes, deeds and disclosures.

FHA Mortgage

FHA (Federal Housing Administration) mortgages may take a bit longer to close. Historically, eight weeks was a solid rule of thumb. However, in recent years, FHA has streamlined the process and often closes loans as quickly as conventional mortgages. Formerly, the extra time resulted from the fact that FHA does not make loans, only insures the loan amount that your lender approves. Before technology improvements, your lender had to mail a completed application to FHA for its analysis and approval. Modern electronics allow much faster FHA approvals.

VA Mortgage

Like FHA, the VA (Veterans Administration) does not make direct mortgages, but insures the loans from others. Formerly tedious and time-consuming, VA mortgages are now ready for closing in six to seven weeks. Be aware that along with the usual income verification documents, you'll need to submit a Certificate of Eligibility, obtained from the VA, indicating your period of military service, separation date and type of discharge. You can now download the required eligibility form from the Internet to further speed this process.

Warning

While the primary mortgage categories -- conventional, FHA and VA -- require around the same time to reach closing, an incomplete application can delay the process. When a lender asks you for additional documents, such as a letter of explanation, try your best to respond immediately. Mortgage lenders want to close loans quickly, but need completed applications to make final approval decisions. Incomplete applications are useless to them. They often put these applications aside while awaiting the requested documentation. Your information can quickly become stale, requiring additional processing, slowing the process further and putting off a closing date.